As expected, Sony revealed the lineup for its PS Plus free games for February 2022 on January 26. These games will go live on February 1 and will last until February 28, but unfortunately, they’ve received near-instant backlash from PS Plus subscribers.
The PS Plus free games for February 2022 include UFC 4 (PS4), Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep: A Wonderlands One-Shot Adventure (PS4), and Planet Coaster: Console Edition (PS5). Overall, while opinions may vary from one person to the next, there seems to be two major reasons these games are proving to be so disappointing.
PS Plus Free Games for January 2022 Set It Up, But February 2022 Dropped The Ball
First and foremost, the issue with any service is how the prior month or release can be big, but there’s never any guarantee anything will follow it. The PS Plus free games for January 2022 were well-received and quite popular (and they can still be claimed until February’s titles release), and they include Deep Rock Galactic (PS4/PS5), Persona 5 Strikers (PS4), and Dirt 5 (PS4/PS5).
The solid variety among these PS Plus games—a four-person co-op shooter, a Musou game, and a racing game means there’s a little something for everyone. And PS Plus subscribers fell in love with Deep Rock Galactic, boosting its community by millions of people. In comparison, it’s hard to look at February’s games and see this as possible. Plus, many PS5 owners may have hoped that two PS5 native versions a month would set off a trend for the new year, but that no longer seems to be the case.
PS Plus Free Games for February 2022 Has Two of the Worst Genres for the Service
That said, the biggest thing working against the free February games are the genres that are available. That’s not to say anything against these specific games or genres, but historically, some fare far worse on PS Plus than others, while some like multiplayer games, in contrast, have unique benefits like instant community on PS Plus.
UFC 4, for example, is a solid mixed-martial arts fighting game, but fans of UFC will have likely already bought this. Sports games tend to sell well, even for franchises smaller than Madden, but that tends to mean those interested in sports games have already bought them. A large subsection of gamers don’t care for them, and that means UFC 4 was probably not the best pick to headline February’s PS Plus lineup.
At the same time, simulation games are generally considered niche—no matter how good they are. Simulation games have never performed well on PS Plus either, and many may remember back in May 2020 when PS Plus offered only two sim games on the service: Cities Skylines and Farming Simulator 19. PS Plus subscribers actually petitioned Sony to change these games, but the company never did. However, it makes it pretty clear that sim games aren’t really big draws for the majority of PS Plus subscribers.
This leaves Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep as the best game on the service, likely drawing the least ire, but the problem with that is it’s not even a full game, not really. It’s a standalone release of a Borderlands 2 DLC that came out in 2013. Sure, it’s probably good to build hype for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands in March, but at the same time, it’s comparable to Godfall: Challenger Edition, which was a controversial PS plus title too because it wasn't really a full game. If it’s only a portion of a title, it’s not likely to be received too well.
Again, it’s worth reiterating that none of the games being offered for PS Plus free games for February 2022 are bad, but none of them belong to genres that tend to do well. It's the opposite of that, really, with each title utilizing genres or aspects of PS Plus games that have been controversial in the past. At the end of the day, fans upset with February’s selection always have March to look forward to, but that doesn’t mean this month doesn’t leave a sour taste in their mouth.
PS Plus subscribers typically get a handful of free games every month.